Category: supernatural
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Danger Lurks in the Shadows of Noir-Tinged ‘Cat People’
Under hypnosis, Simone Simon, ‘Cat People’ (1942). By Paul Parcellin This article contains spoilers, so you may want to see the film before reading it. Director Jacque Tourneur said “The less you see, the more you believe” and his film, “Cat People” (1942), proves his theory. It shows how a movie can spark an audience’s…
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‘Repeat Performance’: Happy New Year! — You’re Dead
Louis Hayward, Joan Leslie, ‘Repeat Performance’ (1947). By Paul Parcellin Sometimes we could all use a do-over, and that’s certainly the case with Sheila Page (Joan Leslie) who’s just capped off her year by turning her husband, Barney (Louis Hayward), into a corpse. But then something supernatural happens. Come midnight New Year’s Eve she finds…
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One Step Beyond: Film Noir and the Supernatural
Edward G. Robinson, ‘Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (1948). We can all daydream of possessing special powers, because who wouldn’t want greater insight into their life and extraordinary abilities to manipulate the hands of fate? But if there’s one thing that speculative fiction teaches us is that supernatural powers — mind reading, communicating with the…